IMPHAL, Oct 12: The Coordination Committee (CorCom), an umbrella organisation of proscribed underground groups in Manipur, has called a 12-hour statewide shutdown on October 15 to observe what it describes as “National Black Day”, protesting Manipur’s merger with India in 1949.
The shutdown will remain in force from 6 am to 6 pm, according to a statement issued by CorCom’s Publicity Committee and signed by its media coordinator, M. Shak-Hen. Medical and emergency services, media activities, funeral rites and religious functions have been exempted.
CorCom observes October 15 annually to oppose what it terms the annexation of Manipur, also known as Kangleipak. The organisation claims the merger violated international law and disregarded the state’s constitutional and political status at the time.
In its statement, CorCom alleged that Maharaja Bodhchandra was forced to sign the Manipur Merger Agreement on September 21, 1949, at Redlands in Shillong while under house arrest and at gunpoint. It described the agreement as the result of coercion rather than a voluntary political decision.
The organisation cited the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947, the elected National Assembly’s first sitting on October 18, 1948, and the Standstill Agreement and Instrument of Accession signed on August 11, 1947, to support its position. It argued that the earlier agreements transferred powers over defence, external affairs and communications without surrendering sovereignty in other areas.
CorCom also questioned the merger’s validity under international legal principles and referred to a September 18, 1949, telegram from Shri Prakash to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which it claimed indicated that arrangements had been made to prevent the Maharaja and his advisers from returning to Manipur before the agreement was signed.
The group further linked the demolition of the remaining structures of the historic Redlands building on October 8 and 9, 2025, to what it alleged was an attempt to remove evidence concerning the merger.
Maintaining that the merger was opposed by the elected government, political parties and sections of the population at the time, CorCom invoked self-determination and territorial integrity to argue that Manipur’s political status remained unresolved.
The organisation urged the public to support the shutdown. Its claims and legal interpretations reflect CorCom’s position on Manipur’s 1949 merger with India.
